Dr. Edward Shizha
Associate Professor, Society, Culture, and Environment; Fellow, Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa
Contact InformationEmail: firstname.lastname@example.org
Phone: 519.756.8228 ext.5747
Office Location: RCW 307
Doctor of Philosophy (2005), Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Master of Educational Sociology (1996), Department of Educational Foundations, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Bachelor of Education (1991), Department of Curriculum Studies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
Certificate in Education (1980), Umtali Teachers’ College, Zimbabwe
My research interest lies in educational and political developments in Zambia and Zimbabwe. I focus on how the economic meltdown and the political space in Zimbabwe have affected the effectiveness of the education system, and how the teaching profession is responding to these socio-political developments. The socio-political repression and the economic meltdown have created a refuge and immigrant Zimbabwean population both in Africa and in the West. Consequently, one of my interests is to explore how these immigrants have settled and integrated into their new societies, focusing on the challenges that they face and the coping strategies that they employ to overcome these challenges. In addition I also research on how the indigenous knowledge in Zimbabwe has been marginalized in the academic corridors and explore ways in which integration of indigenous knowledge and learning can enhance knowledge utilization in socio-economic development
Abdi, A.A.; Ellis, L. & Shizha, E. (in press). Citizenship Education and social development in Zambia. Information Age Publishing Inc.
Abrokwaa, C., Ngoma, M.S. & Shizha, E. African Refugees: Challenges and Prospects of Resettlement Programs. In E. Mpofu (Ed.). Counselling people of African ancestry (Refereed) (July 2008).
Makwarimba, E., Stewart, M. , & Shizha, E. Challenges faced by immigrant seniors in Canada. In D. Durst (Ed.). Diversity in aging among immigrant seniors in Canada. (Refereed) (July 2008).
Stewart, M., Nsaliwa, C., Khalema, E., Spitzer, D., Makwarimba, E., Shizha, E., Jones, Z., & Makumbe, K. Senior immigrants’ support needs and preferences of support intervention programs. In D. Durst (Ed.). Diversity in aging among immigrant seniors in Canada. (Refereed) (February 2008).
Shizha, E. Chara chimwe hachitswanyi inda: Indigenizing science education in Zimbabwe. In D. Kapoor & S. Jordan (Eds.). Global contexts of PAR, education and social change. Palgrave Macmillan (Refereed) (April, 2008)
Shizha, E. (2008). Globalization and indigenous knowledge: An African postcolonial theoretical analysis, in S. Guo & A.A. Abdi (Eds.), Education and social development: Global issues and analysis. Rotterdam Holland: Sense Publishers.
Shizha, E. & Abdi, A.A. (2008). Globalization and adult education in the South, in D. Kapoor & A.A. Abdi (Eds.). Global perspectives on adult education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shizha, E. (2006). Continuity or discontinuity in educational equity: Contradictions in structural adjustment programmes in Zimbabwe, in A. Abdi; K. Puplampu & G. J.S. Dei & A. Abdi (Eds.), African Education and Globalization: Critical Perspectives (pp. 187-210). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Shizha, E. (2005). Reclaiming our memories: The education dilemma in postcolonial African school curricula, in A. Abdi & A. Cleghorn (Eds.), Issues in African Education: Sociological Perspectives (pp. 65-83). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shizha, E. & Abdi, E. (2005). Democratizing education in Zambia: Sociohistorical analyses, in A. Abdi & A. Cleghorn (Eds.), Issues in African Education:Sociological Perspectives (pp. 241- 258). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Shizha, E. (1998). Policies and projects promoting girls education in Zimbabwe, in Policies, Programmes and Projects for Education and Development in 12 Countries of Southern African Development Community (SADC). Harare, Southern African Research and Documentation Centre.
Refereed Journal Articles
Shizha, E. (2008). Indigenous? What indigenous knowledge? Beliefs and attitudes of rural primary school teachers towards indigenous knowledge in the science curriculum in Zimbabwe. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36
Shizha, E. (2007). Critical analysis of problems encountered in incorporating indigenous knowledge in science teaching by primary school teachers in Zimbabwe. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 53(3), 302-319.
Shizha, E. (2006). Legitimizing indigenous knowledge in Zimbabwe: A theoretical analysis of postcolonial school knowledge and its colonial legacy. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, 1(1), 20-35.
Abdi, A.A., Shizha, E. & Bwalya, I. (2006). Recasting postcolonial citizenship through civic education: Critical perspectives on Zambia. International Education, 35(2), 47-64.
Abdi, Ali. A., Ellis, L. & Shizha, E. (2005). Democratic development and the role of citizenship education in Sub-Saharan Africa with a case focus of Zambia. International Education Journal, 6 (4), 454-466.
Shizha, E. (2000). The Development of masculinity in primary school boys in Zimbabwe: Possibilities for Deconstruction, Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research, 12(1), 1-24.
Shizha, E. & Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru, O. (1999). Through the Zimbabwean eyes: A review of Hans M. Zell’s ‘Publishing in Africa’ Journal of African Religion and Philosophy: Now and in the Next Millennium 1990s-3000CE, 53-54.
Shizha, E. (1998). Cost recovery and its implications for student teachers in government teacher education colleges in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research, 10(2), 154-173.
I grew up in Zimbabwe where I did my undergraduate and master's degree at the University of Zimbabwe. I grew up with a passion for teaching, which was the career open to most indigenous Zimbabweans during the Rhodesian colonial period. There were very few options for indigenous people who wanted to pursue highly regarded professions. Teachers in rural schools, where most of us grew up, were our role models. As a result, I have been a teacher all my career life having taught at elementary, high school, teacher training and university levels. I came to Canada in 2001 and settled in chilly Edmonton where I did my PhD. I find Ontario, Brantford in particular warmer than Edmonton, and I am happy to have been offered and accepted the job at Wilfrid Laurier and hope to grow with the university and to contribute to its development.
I am currently a co-researcher on a research project on the social support needs of first time Sudanese and Zimbabwean immigrant mothers in Edmonton, Alberta. I am also co-authoring a book on current educational problems and challenges in Zimbabwe during the economic meltdown that has halted soci-economic development in Zimbabwe. I am also co-editing a book on indigenous knowledge and learning in Asia and Africa.